Pages

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

How About a Museum Meet-Up?

When I mentioned this Brooklyn Museum exhibit in last week's Girl Reporter, a very clever commenter proposed a meet-up to see it! I love this idea, so I thought I'd get a sense of interest from you lovely readers in this. Are you close by? Would you like to meet up with some like-minded vintage fashion enthusiasts and sewists to see some awesome couture on exhibit? If we can gather a group of ten and give the museum three weeks notice, we can arrange a group tour! Who's in? We'd be looking at a weekend visit in mid to late June. E-mail me at gertie [at] blogforbettersewing [dot] com.Here's the official blurb about the exhibit:

To mark the new relationship between the Brooklyn Museum and the Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum presents an exhibition of some of the most renowned objects from its costume collection. American High Style consists of approximately eighty-five dressed mannequins and a selection of hats, shoes, sketches, and other fashion-related material that will reintroduce the collection, long in storage, to the public. The exhibition is organized in groups representing the most important strengths of the collection. Works by the first generation of American women designers such as Bonnie Cashin, Elizabeth Hawes, and Claire McCardell are featured, as well as material created by Charles James, Norman Norell, Gilbert Adrian, and other important American designers. Also included are works by French designers who had an important influence on American women and fashion, such as Charles Frederick Worth, Elsa Schiaparelli, Jeanne Lanvin, Jeanne Paquin, Madeleine Vionnet, and Christian Dior. The Metropolitan Museum of Art will celebrate the arrival of the Brooklyn Museum costume collection at the Met with a related exhibition, American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity, on view May 5–August 15, 2010.

18 comments:

What a great idea... I lived just a few minutes' walk from the Brooklyn Museum for 10 years, but am too far away now. Almost makes me regret moving to Hawaii (but not quite). Be sure to go to the Botanic Gardens, too, right next door.

If you throw in free airfare from Melbourne (Australia!!) and accommodation I will be there! Otherwise will have to visit the museum vicariously through your pics...which I'm sure would be nearly as good anyway!

Brooke, there's an exhibition of Grace Kelly's dresses at the V&A in London at the moment. Possibly worth booking in advance though as when I tried to go, on a weekday, it was sold out. The museum is well worth a visit in any case with a very nice fashion section, a suite of three very beautiful Victorian tea-rooms, and a most wonderful shop (which currently has reissues of Horrockses goodies, including the famous Golden Age of Couture V&A dress... alternatively, you can buy a long cotton scarf in that same rose print, or dressing gowns and nighties in reprints of other Horrockses fabrics, all of which are also available online -- and no, I don't work for the V&A, it's just my most favourite museum ever...).